Many types of spinal irregularities can cause pain, limit range of motion, or injure the nervous system within the spinal column. These irregularities can result from, without limitation, trauma, tumor, disc degeneration, and disease. One example of a spinal irregularity is spinal stenosis, the narrowing of a spinal canal, which can result in the compression of spinal nerves such as the spinal cord or cauda equina. In turn, the nerve compression can result in pain, numbness, or weakness. Spinal stenosis may be caused by one or more conditions such as development of bone spurs, thickening of ligaments, fractures, and disc degeneration (e.g., due to arthritis).
Treatment of spinal stenosis can include, for example, a surgical procedure such as laminoplasty or laminectomy. Both of these procedures can involve expanding the spinal canal by modifying or removing the portion of a vertebra that may overlap the compressed nerve. In a laminoplasty procedure, a cut may be made through one lamina on a vertebrae and a hinge created on the other lamina, allowing a posterior section of the vertebrae to swing open to thereby enlarge the spinal canal. In a laminectomy procedure, both laminae and the spinous process may be removed. In either of these procedures, a variety of devices, such as rods, screws, cages, and/or plates, may be used to subsequently stabilize the spine.